John C. Reilly on getting cold-called by Roman Polanski for Carnage

John C. Reilly on Carnage: 'I got a call out of the blue that Roman Polanski wanted me to come to Paris'

No audition, no questions; no problem. This is how John C. Reilly recalls ending up as part of the all-star cast of the new dark comedy Carnage.

“I just got a call out of the blue last fall that Roman Polanski wanted me to come to Paris and shoot a movie for eight weeks,” he says. “I just about fell off my chair.”

Reilly plays Michael Longstreet, an urbane urbanite whose son has been beaten up by another boy in the playground. He and his wife (Jodie Foster) invite the other boy’s parents (Kate Winslet, Christoph Waltz) over to discuss the incident, but tempers fray as true natures are revealed.

Reilly remembers he and Waltz discussing over dinner one night why Polanski had chosen them for the roles. “There are no accidents on his films,” he says.

They eventually decided it had to do with “those less flattering parts of ourselves that we had in common with the characters. I think we move through the world in similar ways — generally affable guys who keep the peace and give people the benefit of the doubt … and then in our darker moments — ” he stops himself suddenly. “I still haven’t reconciled to it,” he finishes sheepishly.

Reilly’s character certainly has a dark side. Early in the movie he cheerfully admits to having left the family’s pet hamster on the street because he couldn’t stand the noise it was making. But while viewers’ sympathies may shift from one character to another, he says, “I don’t know that any of them redeem themselves by the end of the story. That’s why the movie’s called Carnage.”

Polanski adapted the film from the French-language play The God of Carnage, whose English version received rave reviews in London’s West End and on Broadway. The action takes place entirely within the couple’s upscale Brooklyn apartment. The director, who avoids the United States because of an outstanding statutory rape conviction from the ’70s, shot the film in Paris and added Brooklyn views in post-production.

Reilly says the set wasn’t claustrophobic for all its intensity. “Most of the time one of the walls was missing; you could walk right out.”

But he notes that the dense nature of the material took its toll. In most movies, one day will be devoted to one scene, after which the performers move on. “This felt like doing the same scene for six weeks.” He alternated between taking comfort in the routine and “feeling like I was slowly going mad.”

Reilly, Oscar-nominated for 2002’s Chicago, is a difficult actor to pin down. He co-starred with Will Ferrell in Talladega Nights and Step Brothers, and played the lead in the comedy Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story. More recently he’s appeared in such darker fare as Cyrus, Terri and We Need to Talk About Kevin, which opens in February.

“I find myself drawn to steady employment,” he says of this mix of roles. “From the outside, it looks like actors have this game plan in mind. But a lot of it is just opportunity.”

Still, he enjoys the dramatic parts. “Dramatic work allow you the chance to be funny occasionally,” he says. “I’ve always been someone who doesn’t like letting the audience off the hook. That’s what I want to see when I watch movies. I want to be surprised.”

Reilly had been approached to appear in a stage version of Carnage, but couldn’t fit it into his schedule. Would he consider reprising his film role on the stage at some point in the future? He doesn’t even pause: “I think I’ve spent enough time in that apartment.”